The objects of the present invention are accomplished in general by providing a curtain ensemble that includes a flexible sheet of material that is preferably opaque as well as decorative in the form of a shower curtain. The curtain has apertures along the top thereof that can be associated with plastic or metal hooks that have been covered with matching material and associated with a curtain rod and curtain to provide a pleasing effect to a bathroom when the ensemble is installed. Generally, these ensembles are used in stall-type or bathtub enclosures capable of catching water and facilitating drainage out of the enclosure. The invention also includes the process of covering the plastic hooks with fabric by initially creating a tube sized in length and diameter to fit and cover the hooks in a gathered state and thereafter assembling the hooks with the curtain so that only fabric shows to one viewing the ensemble while facing the shower enclosure.
This invention relates to improvements in shower curtains and more particularly is concerned with an ensemble where a fabric shower curtain is held on a curtain rod by a plurality of hook members that are covered with a matching fabric.
Showers intended for bathing purposes generally consist of a spray head positioned at an elevated location within an enclosure capable of catching water and facilitating its drainage away from the enclosure. In stall-type and bathtub enclosures, it is common to utilize a horizontally traversable, flexible curtain to facilitate passage into and out of the shower enclosure. The curtain, when moved to its fully opened position, serves to prevent water from traveling beyond the bounds of the enclosure and, in addition to affording privacy to the user, creates a decorative effect, depending upon the material that is used.
One important disadvantage with maintaining a decorative effect is where hooks are used to hold the shower curtains on the shower curtain rod which generally traverses the enclosure. These hooks are generally made of plastic or metal and do not create a pleasing appearance insofar as they are generally made of a different material than the fabric that is used for the shower curtain. While patents do exist for making the shower curtain and shower hooks of the same material, such as for instance, Wilson, U.S. Pat. No. 4,120,343, as well as Thompson, U.S. Pat. No. 2,011,662, there is no specific teaching in any of these patents of coating or covering an ordinary plastic or metal shower curtain hook with a fabric that matches the shower curtain to create a pleasing effect.
It is, accordingly, an object of the present invention to provide a shower curtain that is held together and supported by a series of metal or plastic hooks on a horizontal shower curtain rod and is covered with the same material for covering the shower hooks as is provided for the shower curtain.
It is another object of this invention to provide an improved process for creating a pleasing appearing ensemble covering a shower stall or the like by first, initially, covering each of the plastic hooks with matching fabric, installing the hooks and thereafter assembling a curtain having matching fabric with each of the hooks in order to support the shower curtain whereby a pleasing, decorative effect in the bathroom is obtained.
These and other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description wherein: